Breakdown of Hoe schaarser het materiaal is, hoe winstgevender de wereldwijde handel wordt.
zijn
to be
hoe
how
worden
to become
het materiaal
the material
schaars
scarce
winstgevend
profitable
de handel
the trade
wereldwijd
worldwide
Questions & Answers about Hoe schaarser het materiaal is, hoe winstgevender de wereldwijde handel wordt.
Why are the verbs is and wordt at the very end of their respective halves of the sentence?
In a hoe ..., hoe ... (the ..., the ...) structure, both halves generally act like subordinate clauses. This means the conjugated verbs (is and wordt) are pushed to the end of each clause. The pattern for both sides is: hoe + comparative adjective + subject + verb.
Could I use des te instead of the second hoe in this sentence?
Yes, you can use des te for the second half to mean the exact same thing. However, while a hoe clause pushes the verb to the very end, a des te clause typically uses inversion (verb before subject). If you swapped it here, it would be: ... des te winstgevender wordt de wereldwijde handel.
What is the literal translation of the word winstgevender?
It is the comparative form of winstgevend (profitable). This is a compound word made from winst (profit) and gevend (giving, the present participle of geven). So it literally translates to "more profit-giving".
Why does wereldwijde end in an -e, but schaarser does not?
Wereldwijde gets an -e because it is placed directly in front of the noun it modifies (handel). Schaarser and winstgevender, however, act more like predicate adjectives in this hoe ... hoe construction; because they aren't attached directly in front of a noun, they do not get the -e ending.
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